Time to change the 'lone wolf' narrative

Like you, I'm still processing and grieving the mass shooting of 11 Black people in a supermarket in Buffalo, NY on Saturday. This morning while driving my 5-year-old son to preschool, I explained to him what happened.?

Many (white) people would say my son is too young to know these hard truths of the world. Since all the Black folks I know learn at age 5 or younger about racially motivated murder because their lives depend on it, I believe white little boys should too.?

We all need to take responsibility for educating ourselves on why this keeps happening in our country, and do everything we can to shut down the false “lone wolf” narrative that prioritizes white fragility over Black lives.?

We’re 19 weeks into 2022, and already, there have been 198 mass shootings in the United States. As PR professionals who work closely with members of the media, when we hear news coverage that drives the "lone wolf" narrative when describing anti-Black terrorists, we need to take a hard look inward.

When we are bystanders to the news, when we push forward the "usual suspects'" as sources because it feels safe, or when we take on clients who don't share a commitment to anti-racism, we are contributing to systemic oppression. We need to support the news media by finding and elevating more voices to include in news stories – voices that actually reflect the country and the communities in which we live.?

Here are three articles that my Full Swing PR team and I recommend you read as you continue to educate yourself on how white supremacy contributes to mass shootings in America.

1. Back in 2018, the nonprofit news outlet Reveal wrote about the connection between the rising white supremacy movement in the U.S. and “fake news” – rampant disinformation that contributes to young white men turning to race-fueled murder.?
2. The mass shooting in Buffalo reflects deeply held American ideas, Washington Post writer Jesse Curtis wrote this morning. White men who engage in racially motivated killings continue to be treated as some kind of lone wolf phenomenon, when in fact, there is a long history in this country of systemic murder of Black people by white men.
3. From Colin Faife at the Verge, we should all consider why Elon Musk's silence on Buffalo is deafening.

If you are white and reading this, I'd love to know how you are taking ownership for dismantling white supremacy in your life and in your business.?